Westbrook gains upper hand in Legion tournament

AUGUSTA — Rain early in the day and a late-afternoon thunderstorm forced a stoppage in play Friday at the American Legion baseball state tournament, preventing any of the three scheduled games from being completed.

Play will resume at 10 a.m. Saturday at Morton Field in a winners’ bracket game between and Saco & Biddeford Savings of Westbrook and Bangor. Westbrook leads 7-0 after 3 1/2 innings.

Two other games were also moved to Saturday – elimination games involving the Windham Merchants vs. the Pastime Club of Lewiston, and Red Barn of Augusta vs. Staples Crossing of South Berwick.

In all, five games are scheduled Saturday at the Capitol Area Recreation Association complex.

The double-elimination tournament for 16- to 19-year-old players is scheduled to conclude Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Northeast Regional Aug. 8-12 in Middletown, Conn.

Westbrook (14-7), which had to rally in the ninth inning to pull out its first two wins in the tournament, took a 2-0 lead in the second inning Friday on Robbie Hamilton’s third home run in three games. Sam Stauble led off the inning by bouncing a single up the middle and Hamilton, a 2012 Windham High graduate, followed with an opposite-field blast to right.

Westbrook added five runs in the third inning.

With one out, Zack Bean reached on an infield hit. A walk and a fielder’s choice put runners at the corners with two outs. Hamilton singled to center to collect his 10th RBI of the tournament. Sam Stauble scored on a double steal, Keenen Lowe hit a two-run double, and Austin Blake drove in a run with another double.

Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:[email protected]
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH

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